Tesla’s “Battery Day” event is finally here!
In the early morning of September 23, Beijing time, the 2020 Tesla Battery Day was held as scheduled at the California factory. It is worth mentioning that due to the epidemic, all participants were sitting in Tesla cars. Only Musk raised his arms and shouted on the stage, while the participants used Tesla horns instead of applause.
So, what innovations did this highly publicized conference bring? Let's take a look together.
4680 battery?
Will reduce battery costs to the end
Battery Day, the most important innovation naturally comes from the battery itself, and the new size of 4680 battery , is undoubtedly the biggest focus of this game.
Currently, Tesla has three specifications of battery sizes: from the original "1865" (the first two numbers are the diameter, the last two numbers are the length) to the previous generation's "2170", It will now increase to "4680".
The new 4680 battery is the practical application of the "poleless ear" battery patent disclosed by Tesla in May this year. Its core design concept is to directly connect the positive and negative current collectors to the cover/casing to exponentially increase the current conduction area and shorten the current conduction distance, thereby significantly reducing the internal resistance of the battery, reducing heat generation, extending battery life, and improving charging efficiency. Discharge peak power.
How to reduce costs? This is the main driving force behind Tesla’s continuous changes in battery size.
According to reports, the new battery uses laser technology to remove the battery tabs, which will increase the energy of the battery by 5 times, increase the cruising range by 16 times, increase the power by 6 times, and reduce the cost of the battery core by 14 times.
In addition, Tesla has also optimized and expanded the industrial process of the battery production line and adopted a dry electrode process, which can simplify operations 10 times compared to traditional solutions. The battery production line also uses a high-performance assembly line, hoping to achieve continuous assembly processing. In this way, a single production line can achieve a battery output of 20GWh, which is 7 times higher than the current production efficiency. In this way, the entire factory can achieve a TWh-level production capacity and achieve an annual production capacity of 3TWh in the next 10 years.
Taken together, by optimizing battery structural parts and simplifying the battery production process, we can improve battery standardized production capabilities and ultimately achieve the goal of reducing battery costs. This is Tesla’s plan for future batteries. core demands.
Tesla also said that Battery Day will be a cost battle for electric vehicles.
Delivery volume increased by 30% this year
Shanghai factory produces 1 million vehicles
At the event, Musk said, “Tesla delivery volume increased by 50% in 2019 %, in 2020, despite the impact of the epidemic, Tesla delivery volume will still increase by 30-40%. "This estimate means that Tesla may deliver between 477750 and 514500 vehicles this year. Cars are expected to complete Tesla’s delivery target of 500,000 vehicles this year.
At the Battery Day event, Musk once again made a madman's statement - traditional fuel vehicle companies will no longer exist in the future, and he planned his own electrification blueprint.
Musk said that Tesla is the only 100% foreign-owned automobile company in China. In the past year, Tesla built a factory in Shanghai within 15 months. The current Shanghai factory The second phase of expansion is in progress, and it is expected that the Shanghai factory can achieve the annual production target of 1 million vehicles in the future.
Recently, multiple foreign media reported that of the 90,891 electric vehicles delivered by Tesla in the second quarter of this year, 29,684 were produced at the Shanghai Gigafactory, accounting for the majority of Tesla’s electric vehicles in the quarter. 32.6% of car deliveries, nearly one-third.
Based on an estimated output of 30,000 vehicles per quarter (output in the second quarter of this year), the current annual output of Tesla’s Shanghai factory is around 120,000 vehicles. Achieving the annual output target of 1 million vehicles means that the Shanghai factory Production will increase 7 times.
In addition to the Shanghai factory, in terms of factory expansion plans, Musk said, “We hope to have Tesla factories on every continent, which can provide guarantee for the company’s liquidity and delivery cycle; We currently have factories in China, two factories in the United States, and factories in Europe. We hope to build a factory in Australia in the future.” Musk also said that he hopes to produce about 2,000 units per year. 10,000 cars, but this may take 1-3 years to achieve.
What other information was revealed on Battery Day?
In terms of batteries, there is another new news. Musk announced that in energy-intensive models such as Cybertruck and Semi, Tesla will use 100% nickel-backed batteries, also known as "All Nickel Battery". In order to meet the growing demand for nickel metal and reduce the cost of nickel mining, Tesla even did not hesitate to be a miner himself and participate in the entire process of nickel mining.
Battery Day also brought news of a “cheap version of Tesla.” Musk said that in about three years, he is confident that he will be able to build a very attractive fully autonomous car priced at US$25,000 (approximately RMB 170,000). Currently, Tesla’s lowest-end Model 3 model starts at $37,990 in the United States. This means that the price of Tesla's cheapest model will drop by 34% in the next few years.
As for the autonomous driving software update, Musk said that Tesla will push a test version of the fully autonomous driving (FSD) function in about a month.
In addition, at the Battery Day event, Musk also showed a video of the new Plaid Model S. Information from Tesla's official website shows that the model can accelerate from 0-100km in less than 2 seconds, has a top speed of 320km per hour, and a cruising range of up to 832km. Currently, this model is available for pre-order, priced at US$139,990, and is expected to be delivered in the second half of 2021.
As for when these technologies will be implemented, Musk stated on social media that all products on "Battery Day" will be mass-produced by 2022.
Red Dot Observation
Heroes create trends. The most valuable thing to learn from Tesla is its leading role in the industry. Just like the Apple mobile phone back then, it has irreplaceable and absolute authority in the definition of many future technologies and the formulation of industry standards. What's even more commendable is that Tesla's focus has always been on how to reduce product costs, which is the core to improving the competitiveness of Tesla products. For our new car-making forces, there is still a big gap in this aspect.
This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.